Coralville small business wins award from Iowa Innovation Corporation

The Iowa Innovation Corporation has chosen a Coralville technology company as the recipient of its first Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer Outreach program.

NanoMedTrix of Coralville is the first recipient of the newly released Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer Outreach program. The company is developing technology that can be used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool, reducing the incidence of misdiagnoses.

NanoMedTrix received $5,000 to help with the cost of a grant writer, said Karen Merrick, COO of the Iowa Innovation Corp. Through the outreach program, up to $25,000 is available to qualified applicants.

"Iowa is in the lower five states in the nation as far as making these applications for federal support for research," said Merrick. "What this program does is help increase that number so we can see more federal dollars flowing into the state to help with research."

The SBIR/STTR Outreach program is designed to help Iowa companies get federal grants through the U.S. Small Business Administration's SBIR/STTR programs.

"The program offers both technical and financial assistance in preparing and applying for federal grants and in managing the grant money awarded," Merrick said.

NanoMedTrix will use the grant writer to help complete an application for $150,000 in grant money, Merrick said. The Iowa Innovation Corp. is trying to get the number of companies up as well as the success rate of those that do submit applications, she said.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority gave administration of the program to the Iowa Innovation Corp.

Jose Assouline, president, founder and chief scientific officer of NanoMedTrix, established the company in August 2012 after more than a decade of research.

"Our technology has the potential for use as a non-invasive diagnostic tool as well as in stem cell tracking," he said. "Our aim is to reduce the incidence of misdiagnoses, and provide a safe, highly effective, single-dose contrast agent for those instances where a patient is required to undergo multiple types of scans in close succession.

"Our technology will save time, save money, reduce patient discomfort and improve patient outcomes."

NanoMedTrix received seed funding from the University of Iowa and the Iowa Demonstration Fund. The company has applied for two provisional patents.